Registering toll apparatus.



. No. 675,2I2. y Patented May 28 L. H.'HANDY &. C. S. HUSFRD. BEGISTERING ToLL APPARATUS.

(No Mudd.) (Application filed Oct. 11, 1900.)

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No. 675,2!2. A Y -Patentd May 28, |901. v-

L. H. HANDY & C. S.-HOSFORD.

REGISTERING TOLL APPARATUS.

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LUCIEN LI-I. IIANDY, oF SAN FRANCISCO, AND CI-IARLES S. HoSFoRD, oF BERKELEY, CALIFORNIA.

REGISTERING TOLL APPARATUS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 675,212, dated May as, 190i. Application tiled October 11, 1900. Serial No. 32,737. (No model.)

"0 aZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that we, LUOIEN H. HANDY, residing in the city and county of San Francisco, and CHARLES S. HOSFORD, residing at Berkeley, Alameda county, State ofCalifornia, citizens of the United States, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Registering Toll Apparatus; and we do hereby declare the followingto be a full, clear, and exact description of the same.

Our invention relates to the class of toll apparatuses in general, but particularly to the class of telephone attachments for the purpose of receiving 'a coin or other toll-token, and thereby giving notice of its deposit as a preliminary to giving the required connection at the central office.

The objects of our invention are to provide greater security against dishonest tampering withor manipulation of the apparatus by the user and to provide a check upon the companys collector by a permanent registration of each toll deposited.

Our invention consists inthe novel lookin and retaining mechanism for the toll, whereby the signal of its deposit is not given before its engagement by said mechanism and whereby after'such engagement it is impossi- -ble to withdraw it..

It also consists inthe novel mechanism for registering or recording each toll as it is de.- posited.

It also consists in the novel arrangement, construction, and combination of parts,which We shall hereinafter fully describe and claim by reference to the accompanying drawings,

in which- Figure l is a frontview of our apparatus, the front of the box and the partial plate a9 being removed. Fig. 2 is a front view with the front of the box removed,'but the plate co9 in place. Fig. 3 is a back View of the box with the back removed, but showing the registering device in place. Fig. 4t is a vertical central section of the box in a plane at right angles to its front. Fig. 5 is a back view of the box, the back being removed, the registering device omitted, and the push-rod G pressed down to its limit. Fig. `6 is a view showing the attachment of the box to a telephone in- ,1, and into which the nickel or other toll token drops from the slot a and passes by gravity downwardly.

B B, Fig. l, are two rotatable toothed feeding and locking disks. These are pivotally mounted in a vertical plate a in the box and are so arranged that the space between their uppermost teeth is at the base of the coin passage or runway a2, so that the toll-token drops down upon said disks and temporarily i rests in this space, as seen in dotted lines in Fig. 1, the distance between the teeth of the disks being sufficient to receive and partially embrace said token.

O is a spring-controlled push-rod, the head of which rises above the box A in convenient position to be pressed downwardly. This rod operates in a sleeve c, Figs. .tand 5, and has a` stud c and a spring c2. The stud projects through a slot c3 in the sleeve, which thus forms a guide for the rod, and its base forms a stop to limitthe downward movement of .the rod, as is seen in Fig. 5. The

.lower end of this rod has a cross-foot c4, Fig.

5, the extremities of which are connected by links c5 with the pivoted bell-crank levers D,

mounted upon the shafts or axes b of the disks B B, and said levers carry in their outer extremities the actuatingpawls d, Figs. 5 and 3, controlled by springs and adapted to engage with the ratchets b, fast on the shafts b' of the feeding and locking disks B B and lying back of plate a. Upon shafts b' are other ratchets b2, Fig. 3, with which retaining-pawls d engage, whereby the disks B B are locked against any reverse rotation. These ratchets b2 have many teeth, so that the engagement of the retaining-pawls is practically continuous, thereby locking the disks B B against return move# ment from any position.

Secured to the push-rod E, Fig.'4, having an inclined foot e.

box-plate a' is a vertical slot as, Figs. 1 and 3, through which the inclined foot of the spring-arm E plays. The normal spring tend- 'ency of the arm is outwardly, so that as the push-rod moves down the foot e of the arm projects outwardly in and through the slot a3; but when the push-rod is up at its highest point the incline of said foot, coming in contact with the top wall of the slot, forces said foot backwardly, so that itdoes not project through the slot, thereby leaving the face of plate a smooth, as seenin Fig. 4:.

Below the feeding and locking disks B B are the guides a, Fig. Lione of which has the swinging spring controlled toe piece a5.-

These guides form a second runway d6 or a lower continuation of the rst'for the coins and is best made long enough to hold two coins, as see-n in Fig. l, which are disclosed through a window a7 in the box-front, Fig. 6. Below this runway a6 is the money-drawer F.

The operation of the parts as thus for described isas follows: A coin or toll-token being deposited in slot a, passes by gravity down the tortuous passage or runway 0.2 and rests in the embracing teeth of the feeding and locking disks B B. Then the pushrod Gis forced down. Immediately the foot e of spring-arm E, being free of the top wall of slot as, moves outwardly and lies directly above the coin or toll-token, Fig. 1. At thesame time the pawls d turn the ratchets b, which turn the disks B B, and as the foot epushes down on the coin the disks'turn inwardly before it and their. teeth close in over it, thus taking it away from the foot e, and thereafter said disks feed it downwardly between them until it drops into the lower runway a6 and temporarily rests in the lower end thereof and is `there exposed to view behind the window al in the box-front.

In this position the coin or toll-token is locked against any retraction, for it cannot be pulled up between the teeth of disks B B, for said disks are held against any return or reverse rotation by the retain in g-pawls d. Also only when it is locked by the disks is it intended that the Yelectric signal of its proper deposit shall be given. A second coin, following the course of the first, drops down upon and rests on the first coin, thereby exposing two coins, which is of advantage in reducing the chances in public places of the'purchase of one proper token and the use in addition thereto of an improper token, thereby gaining two switches for the price of one. A third coin when itis fed down pushes the first coin down past the spring toe-piece a5 into the coin-drawer F.

In the back of the box A is a registering mechanism, Figs. 3 and 4, consisting of a plurality of disksG of anyusual and com- 'mon arrangement and/having on their rims,

exposed through the back of the box, the usual numbers of a register, as seen in Fig. 8. To operate this register, there is a lever H, pivoted in a post I in the box. The front end h of this lever passes through the slot a3,

Figs. l and 4, and normally lies between adjacent teeth of disks B B and in the pathway of the coin. The rear end of the lever is connected with a rod J, the upper end of which is connected with a pawlj, engaging a ratchet K, which actuates the registering mechanism. Thus when the coin is fed down, as, heretofore described, it pushes down the forward end of lever H, thereby lifting its rear end, and through the rod J the register is thereby actuated every time a coin passes down.

A spring 71,' serves to return lever H, the front end h of said lever finding a stop in a hole d8, Fig. 2, in a plate 0.9, which said plate serves as a cover to complete the runways and protect'the parts behind it, as seen in Fig. 2. This record of the deposited coins acts as a check on the collector in the same manner as such devices serve their purpose in other ap- F is best arranged to slip vout from the back,

a suitable lock being provided.

The tortuous runway a2 is to prevent a metallic instrumenty being inserted to give the signal.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent,- isl. In a toll apparatus, the combination of a box, having a runway for thepassage of the deposited toll, a pair of rotatable, toothed.

disks, interposed in said runway, and adapted to receive the toll between-them, a push-rod, to be operated fromth'e exterior of the box, mechanism operated by the push-rod, for turning said disks, to feed the toll down between them, and a means for locking said disks against a reverse rotation. l

2. In a toll apparatus, the combination of a box, having a runway for the passage of the deposited toll,- a pair of rotatable, toothed diskshinterposed in said runway, and adapted to receive the toll between them, a push-rod to be operated from the exterior of the box, a pawl-and-ratchet mechanism connecting the push-rod and the disks, whereby the move- IOO ment of the rod turns the disks, to feed the toll down between them, anda means for locking said disks against a reverseA rotation.

3. In a toll apparatus, the combination of a box, having a runway for the passage of the deposited toll, a pair of rotatable, toothed disks interposed in said runway, and adapted to receive the toll between them, a push-rod to be operated from the exterior of the box, a

pawl-and-ratchet mechanism connecting the push-rod and the disks, whereby the move- .ment of the rod turns the disks, to feed the toll down between them, and a second pawland-ratchetmechanism for locking said disks against a reverse rotation.

' 4. In a toll apparatus, the combination of a box, having a runway for the passage of the deposited toll, a pair of rotatable, toothed disks interposed in said runway, and adapted to receive the toll between them, a push-rod to be operated from the exterior of the box, mechanism operated by the push-rod for turning said disks, to feed the toll downbetween` them, a pusher-foot, carried by the push-rod, for engaging the toll, to primarily feed it between the disks, and means for locking said disks against a reverse movement.

5. In a toll apparatus, thecombination of the box, having an interior plate with a slot a3, and a runway on the face of the plate, to direct the deposited toll to overlie the slot, a pair of rotatable, toothed ydisks carried by said plate, on each side of its slot, and in the course ot' the runway, a push-rod to be operatedfrom the exterior of thebox, a springarmy carried by the push-rod, andv having a foot, adapted by the movement of the arm to be projected through and retracted from the slot of the plate, whereby it is adapted to engage-and feedk the toll downwardly, mechanism operated by the push-rod, for turning the disks, to feed the toll down between them, and a means for locking saiddisks against a reverse rotation. v

6. In a toll apparatus, the combination of a toll-receiving box having a runway for the passage of the deposited toll, a pair of rotatable disks interposed in said runway to receive the toll, a push-rod and connections, for turning the disks, to feed-the toll down be-4 tween them, a means for locking said disks against a reverse rotation, a registering device, and a mechanism operated by the deposited toll in its travel between the disks, for actuating the registering device.

7. In a toll apparatus, the combination of a toll-receiving box having a runway for the 'passage ofthe deposited toll, a pair of rotatable disks interposed in said runway to receive the toll, a push-rod and connections, for turning the disks, to feed the toll down between them, a means for locking said disks against a reverse rotation, a registering device, a lever having one end projecting into the runway between the disks, and inthe path of the toll, whereby it is operated and connections from the other end o the lever, to actuate the registering device.

In witness whereof we have hereunto set our hands.

LCIEN H. HANDY. `CHARLES S. HOSFORD.

Witnesses:

WALTER F. VANE, D. B. RICHARDS. 

